Corps working on maps to detail flooding from opening Morganza Spillway to ease pressure on Mississippi River

BATON ROUGE -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District continues to work with local officials to develop more detailed flooding maps that would detail the likely consequences of opening the Morganza Spillway north of Baton Rouge, a corps official said Monday.

Times-Picayune archiveGov. Bobby Jindal warns residents to prepare for flooding from the Mississippi River: âIf you got wet in 1973, youâll get wet this time. If you nearly got wet in 1973, youâll probably get wet this time.â

State officials, meanwhile, continue widespread preparation efforts that range from placing sandbags and inspecting sandbags to moving inmates from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The Morganza has not been opened since 1973. The Corps began opening the Bonnet Carre Spillway in New Orleans on Monday morning.

The Corps released Morganza inundation maps Friday, but those don't yet include details about how many residences and other structures could be affected in and around the Atchafalaya Basin. Col. Mark D. Jernigan, deputy commander of the New Orleans District, said the corps is leaning on local levee districts and other agencies for those detailed projections.

"We're working the numbers right now," he said.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said he expects a decision as son on the Morganza, though Jernigan did not elaborate.

The Corps' Vicksburg District, meanwhile, has released inundation maps for Vidalia, and the surrounding area of northeast Louisiana near Natchez, Miss., upriver from the Morganza Control Structure.

State and federal officials also continue to warn of backwater flooding, as the Mississippi is unable to receive flow from tributaries such as the Red River and Ouachita River.

Jindal offered a succinct warning for the entire state as he encouraged residents to prepare immediately: "If you got wet in 1973, you'll get wet this time. If you nearly got wet in 1973, you'll probably get wet this time."

Jindal has declared a state of emergency, activating more than 400 Louisiana National Guardsmen to assist in placing sandbags and river barriers, inspect levees and walk door-to-door to notify residents and property owners in basins and floodways from Vidalia to Morgan City. The governor said he told Corps officials he would like at five days notice between the final decision and the actual opening of the Morganza. The governor said the National Guard can direct its evacuation and preparation protocol in three days, but prefers five.

"Our first priority is to protect human life; our second priority is the protection of property," Jindal told reporters at the state's Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge.

The governor urged residents to stay away from the levees and flood control structures. "I know there are curiosities ... but I would stress the need to listen to your local authorities," he said.

Cabinet agencies are days into the preparation plans. The Department of Health and Hospitals has notified scores of hospitals and nursing homes to launch their individual flooding plans. The Department of Transportation and Development is monitoring roadways and bridges and will make all decisions about closures. The Department of Natural Resources has notified 135 oil and gas operators that control 1,750 wells threatened with varying levels of flooding.

In Washington, D.C., the Obama administration has granted only a partial disaster declaration for Louisiana, rather than the full declaration Jindal initially sought. The partial declaration allows state and local governments to receive direct federal supplies, but a full declaration is necessary for state and local entities to get up to 75 percent reimbursement for its expenses related to flood control. The Federal Emergency Management Agency could later expand the declaration. Jindal said he is seeking an immediate appeal, nonetheless.

The governor said the state has thus far spent $3.8 million, a number he said will climb steadily.